Business software or business applications are any software or sets of computer programs that are used by business users to perform various business functions. These business applications are used to increase productivity, to measure productivity and to perform business functions accurately. The business applications are commonly used to process or analyze data from various sources (e.g., databases, production lines, sales channels, etc.) for various data variables or key performance indicators (KPIs) (e.g., amounts, expenses, volumes, costs, profits, etc.) in a business context.
Some business applications may include threshold editor tools, which allow users to specify thresholds to trigger warnings or to visually indicate significant features or abnormalities in the KPI data (e.g., amounts, expenses, volumes, costs, profits, etc.) that may be relevant in the business context. The user-specified thresholds may be used, for example, to highlight or mark the significant data features or abnormalities in data dashboards for quick visual identification, to generate automated messages, or to trigger processes (e.g., remedial business actions) to address the abnormalities, etc.
A traditional threshold editor tool, which may be coupled to a business application, may provide editor dialogs or features (e.g., text input fields, checkboxes, pointer or mouse clicks, etc.) on a user interface (UI). A user may be able to specify a numerical threshold for a KPI, for example, by keyboard entries or mouse clicks on the UI. However, a large number thresholds may have to be specified in some scenarios (e.g., for enterprise performance management business applications) where there are multiple relevant KPIs. In such scenarios, the many keyboard entries or mouse clicks required to enter alphanumeric values for multiple KPI thresholds can be cumbersome, confusing and error-prone. Typical errors may include gaps in data ranges delimited by the thresholds, choosing the wrong data units or scales (e.g. entering 100,00 instead of 100.00), etc. In some instances, the user may not be familiar with the KPIs and may not recognize what data ranges are meaningful with respect to the KPI data generated by the business application in the business context. While the traditional threshold editor tool may let the user define binary relations on the thresholds (e.g., define the data values greater or smaller than a threshold number that should result in a warning or further action), use of the traditional threshold tool lacks an intuitive way of visualizing data ranges. The user may have to use the threshold editor tool repeatedly to refine or select thresholds that are appropriate for the ranges in the actual KPI data for the business context.
Consideration is now given to systems and methods for specifying thresholds for data sets retrieved, generated or processed by business applications or other computer software.